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The left–right political spectrum is a diagram intended to categorise political ideologies in 3 distinct categories: left wing, right wing and centrist. The model has received criticism for being idealist, unscientific, subjective, and for ignoring historical materialism and class struggle.
There are successors or variations to the Left-Right Spectrum, one of the most famous successors being the political compass. Variations include Horseshoe Theory and the Fish hook theory.
History
The terms "Left wing" and "Right wing" derive from the French Revolution, where bourgeois revolutionaries would sit on the left, while monarchists sat on the right.
Description
The model is split into 3 categories (sometimes 2), the left wing, the right wing and the centrists. There can be also prefixes adjoined to the parts of the spectrum as 'far-left' or 'center-right' (not to be confused with centrist), which specify the location within the political spectrum. It is a visible one dimensional line going from left to right.
Left wing
Main Article: Left-wing politics
The Left Wing is described is either of two things, depending on what region you live in. In the US, the left wing is described as something who supports more progressive policies such as LGBT rights, and Abortion. In other regions of the world like Europe, the left wing is used to describe those who support either social welfare or anti-capitalist policies.
Right wing
Main Article: Right-wing politics
The Right Wing is usually described as those who oppose progress, and those who support reactionaries. They also typically support less intervention in the government, lower taxes and capitalist policies and economics.
Centrist
Note to be confused with apolitical and moderate, they are typically people who support (and somewhat oppose) both stances, sometimes rejecting one idea of the part over another or choosing neither.
Variations
Horseshoe Theory
The Horseshoe Theory is an adaptation of the Left-Right Spectrum, where the furthest left and the furthest right points are brought closer together in the form of a 'horseshoe' shape, to state that the far-left is similar or identical to the far-right. This is despite the fact that historical materialism refutes this, as the far-left are often anti-fascist and fought nations such as Nazi Germany.
Fish Hook Theory
The Fish Hook Theory is an adaptation of the Left-Right Spectrum where the far-right is shaped towards the center, in the shape of a 'hook', to state that old sayings such as 'Scratch a liberal, a fascist bleeds'. This is more accurate, however, this falls apart due to subjectivity and its unscientific nature.
Criticism
Subjective
The Left-Right Spectrum changes depending on which region you live in. In the United States, Social Democrats are considered 'far-left' and Liberals are considered 'Left-Wing' whilst Conservatives are considered 'Center-Right'.
In the case of the UK for example, Liberals are considered 'Center-Right', and Social Democracies are considered 'center-left' whilst socialists are considered 'far-left'.
Unscientific
The Left-Right Spectrum is criticised for not being scientific, as you cannot draw conclusions due to its subjectivity. There is also no consensus on how to measure the ideologies based on a certain factor, note that the left-right spectrum relies on one value more often than not to be considered scientific.
Denies Historical Materialism
It is an absolutist model, putting ideologies in a vacuum, as some models include "Monarchism" as a 'far-right' ideology, despite monarchism being obsolete for decades.